1969 13 January Rivet Ball, a Strategic Air Command Boeing RC-135S, 59-1491, arriving at Shemya AFB, AK after a reconnaissance operational sortie, is unable to stop due to poor weather and extremely slippery runway conditions. The aircraft slid off the ice-covered runway, plunged into a 40-foot ravine and broke apart. All eighteen occupants of the aircraft egressed successfully. Although the aircraft was written off as damaged beyond repair, some key components were salvaged for subsequent use. 14 January During an Operational Readiness Inspection aboard the off Hawaii, an MK-32 Zuni rocket warhead attached to a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is overheated by exhaust from an aircraft starting unit and detonates, setting off fires and additional explosions across the carrier. The fire is brought under control promptly when compared with previous carrier flight deck fires, but 27 lives are lost, and an additional 314 personnel are injured. The fire destroys 15 aircraft. 29 January A Wisconsin Air National Guard Boeing KC-97L Stratofreighter, 52-0904, c/n 16598, arriving at Milwaukee-General Mitchell International Airport, (MKE/KMKE) on flight from Key West International Airport, Florida, in fog and rain (ceiling reported as 200 feet with 1/2 mile visibility), contacts ground 1/2 mile (.8 km) short (S) of runway, breaks up and catches fire with fatalities to four of 11 on board. 11 February A Lockheed SP-2E Neptune, BuNo 131487, of a Navy Reserve unit based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, crashes in the Cleveland National Forest in the Santa Ana Mountains of Orange County, California, while on night training. Six crew killed while flying (KWF). The crew was serving two weeks of active duty at Naval Air Station Los Alamitos, 20 miles south of Los Angeles. The aircraft departed in the evening and headed for nearby MCAS El Toro for some night landing practice. The weather was somewhat cloudy and the rugged Santa Ana Mountains to the north were obscured. At 2023 hours local, a fighter jet flying over the area reported seeing a large fireball below him. The patrol plane was apparently executing a missed approach when its starboard wingtip struck the southern ridge of Harding Canyon. The aircraft cartwheels and disintegrates. KWF are Lt. Cmdr. Robert Frederick, pilot, 38, from White Bear, Minnesota; Lt. Cmdr. Beal Gordon Dolven Jr., co-pilot, 36, from Minneapolis; Lt. Cmdr. Oliver B. Walley, 34, from Menomonie, Wisconsin; Lt. John E. Surratt; Air Ordnanceman Walter R. Jacobson, 40, of St. Paul,